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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2019

San Sebastian Film Festival 2019

Official Selection

Programme

19 films · 8 reviews

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And The Birds Rained Down (Il pleuvait des oiseaux)

Review preview for And The Birds Rained Down

Every time we are away from the older generation, they're sorely missed and the action drags without their presence.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Three elderly hermits live deep in the woods, cut off from the rest of the world. While wildfires threaten the region, their quiet life is about to be shaken by the arrival of two women.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Louise Archambault; Writer: Louise Archambault, based on the novel by Jocelyne Saucier; Stars: Kenneth Welsh, Andrée Lachapelle, Gilbert Sicotte, Kenneth Welsh, Andrée Lachapelle, Gilbert Sicotte)

Full review

The Audition (Das Vorspiel)

A rivalry develops between a violin teacher's son and her star pupil.

(Country: Germany, France; Year: 2019; Director: Ina Weisse; Writer: Daphne Charizani; Stars: Nina Hoss, Simon Abkarian, Jens Albinus, Sophie Rois, Thomas Thieme, Winnie Böwe, Serafin Mishiev, Oliver Wille, William Coleman, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan, Ilja Monti, Jana Kuss, Stephan Taubert, Nina Hoss, Simon Abkarian)

A Dark-Dark Man

A boy is murdered in Kazakh village. Detective Bekzat wants to wrap up the inquiries quickly... but when a journalist arrives from the city, everything falls to pieces.

(Country: Kazakhstan, France; Year: 2019; Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Stars: Daniyar Alshinov, Dinara Baktybayeva, Teoman Khos)

Death Will Come And Shall Have Your Eyes (Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos)

Two women who have spent their whole lives together must deal with the illness affecting one of them.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Daniel Farriol; Writer: Daniel Farriol; Stars: Beatriz Díaz, Daniel Guerra, Daniel Farriol, Beatriz Díaz, Daniel Guerra, Daniel Farriol)

The Endless Trench (La Trinchera Infinita)

Review preview for The Endless Trench

The Endless Trench marries its effective prison drama element to a relationship drama, artfully highlighting the impact of hiding out, not just on those forced to do it but on their loved ones.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Higinio and Rosa have only been married for a few months when the Civil War breaks out, representing a serious threat to his life. Helped by his wife, they decide to use a hole dug into their own home as a provisional hiding place... but their imprisonment will go on for years.

(Country: France, Spain; Year: 2019; Director: Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño, Jose Mari Goenaga; Writer: Luiso Berdejo, Jose Mari Goenaga; Stars: Antonio de la Torre, Belén Cuesta, Vicente Vergara, José Manuel Poga, Emilio Palacios, Enrique Asenjo, Antonio Romero, Esperanza Guardado, José María del Castillo, Javi Mena, Manuel Domínguez, Carlos Bernardino, Óscar Corrales, Daniel Morilla)

Full review

Heroic Losers (La Odisea De Los Giles)

Inhabitants from a town in the Buenos Aires region decide to place all their savings in a bank to create an agricultural cooperative which, they believe, will change their fate. When it turns out to be a scam, they react in the face of the injustice.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2019; Director: Sebastián Borensztein; Writer: Sebastián Borensztein, Eduardo Sacheri, Eduardo Sacheri; Stars: Ricardo Darín, Luis Brandoni, Chino Darín, Verónica Llinás, Daniel Aráoz, Carlos Belloso, Marco Antonio Caponi, Rita Cortese, Andrés Parra, Federico Berón, Luciano Cazaux, Alejandro Gigena, Guillermo Jacubowicz, José María Marcos, Ailín Zaninovich)

Special screening

Joker

Review preview for Joker

Phoenix strips the skin off your eyeballs. What happens next is a gasp away from easy.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 5 out of 5
Origin story of Batman's arch nemesis.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Todd Phillips; Writer: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver; Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, Shea Whigham, Brian Tyree Henry, Frances Conroy, Bryan Callen, Brett Cullen, Bill Camp, Isabella Ferreira, Douglas Hodge, Glenn Fleshler, Josh Pais, Jolie Chan)

Full review

Surprise film. Out of competition

Lhamo And Skalbe

A couple are prevented from getting married by their past.

(Country: China; Year: 2019; Director: Sonthar Gyal; Writer: Sonthar Gyal; Stars: Sechok Gyal, De Ji, Xi Liao, Sechok Gyal, De Ji, Xi Liao)

The Other Lamb

Review preview for The Other Lamb

The way ahead may be a little pre-destined but the director let's the tension drip through every beautifully shot moment by cinematographer Michal Englert - with the sort of imagery that could see her film achieve its own cult appeal.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A young girl begins to question her place in the religious community she was born into.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Malgorzata Szumowska; Writer: CS McMullen; Stars: Michiel Huisman, Raffey Cassidy, Denise Gough, Eve Connolly, Kelly Campbell, Isabelle Connolly, Ailbhe Cowley, Juliette Crosbie, Mallory Adams, Zara Devlin, David Fawaz, Michiel Huisman, Raffey Cassidy, Denise Gough, Eve Connolly)

Full review

Pacified

The story of a friendship that develops between a girl trying to keep her mum out of trouble and an ex-convict trying to stick to the straight and narrow.

(Country: Brazil, United States; Year: 2019; Director: Paxton Winters; Writer: Joseph Carter, Wellington Magalhaes, Paxton Winters, Paxton Winters; Stars: Bukassa Kabengele, Cassia Gil, Débora Nascimento, Léa Garcia, Raphael Logan, Jefferson Brasil, Rayane Santos, José Loreto, Thiago Thomé, Shirley Cruz, Rod Carvalho, Murilo Sampaio, Bukassa Kabengele, Cassia Gil, Débora Nascimento)

Patrick

The tale of an adolescent who was kidnapped as a child

(Country: Portugal; Year: 2019; Director: Gonçalo Waddington; Writer: Gonçalo Waddington; Stars: Alba Baptista, Carla Maciel, Adriano Carvalho)

Proxima

Review preview for Proxima

The narrative manages to balance the personal with the wider world of space exploration while dealing with the issues of domesticity and family demands and the conflicts of pursuing a demanding work arc.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A female astronaut finds the demands of work take their toll on her single-mum relationship with her young daughter.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Alice Winocour; Writer: Jean-Stéphane Bron, Alice Winocour; Stars: Eva Green, Zélie Boulant-Lemesle, Matt Dillon, Aleksey Fateev, Lars Eidinger, Sandra Hüller)

Full review See: Alice Winocour on Proxima and bringing the film to Glasgow

Rocks

Review preview for Rocks

The camera is, literally, down with the kids, at their eye level, drinking in their mayhem, their laughter and their viewpoint.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A young girl is determined to keep the fact that there mother has left her and her younger brother alone from the authorities, through fear of being separated from him.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Sarah Gavron; Writer: Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson; Stars: Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali, D'angelou Osei Kissiedu, Shaneigha-Monik Greyson, Ruby Stokes, Tawheda Begum, Afi Okaidja, Anastasia Dymitrow, Sarah Niles, Layo-Christina Akinlude, Sharon D. Clarke, Islah Abdur-Rahman, Shola Adewusi, Mohammad Amiri, Brie-Morgan Appleton)

Full review See: Sarah Gavron and Theresa Ikoko on shooting Rocks and pushing for diversity , Rocks interview with Theresa Ikoko and Sarah Gavron

Seventeen (Diecisiete)

As part of the rehabilitation program at a juvenile detention center, 17-year-old Hector creates an unbreakable bond with a dog. When the therapy dog is suddenly adopte, Hector escapes to look for him.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2019; Director: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo; Writer: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, Araceli Sánchez; Stars: Kandido Uranga, Itsaso Arana, Chani Martín, Iñigo Aranburu, Lola Cordón, Biel Montoro, Mamen Duch, Jorge Cabrera, Nacho Sánchez, Carolina Clemente, Aaron Porras, Kandido Uranga, Itsaso Arana, Chani Martín, Iñigo Aranburu)

Out of competition

Thalasso

Provocative French writer Michel Houellebecq meets Gérard Depardieu at a sea water therapy centre in Cabourg. Together, they try to survive the health regime to which they are subjected by the establishment. But events quickly derail their routine…

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Guillaume Nicloux; Writer: Declan May, Guillaume Nicloux; Stars: Michel Houellebecq, Gérard Depardieu, Maxime Lefrançois, Mathieu Nicourt, Daria Panchenko, Luc Schwarz)

A Thief's Daughter (La Hija De Un Ladron)

Review preview for A Thief's Daughter

As character studies go, it's familiar ground but Funes succeeds in exploring it with some tenacity and strikes emotional chords without resorting to melodrama.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
When a woman's father reappears on the scene after a spell in prison, she has a difficult choice to make.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2019; Director: Belén Funes; Writer: Marçal Cebrian, Belén Funes; Stars: Greta Fernández, Eduard Fernández, Àlex Monner, Borja Espinosa, Maria Rodríguez Soto, Frank Feys, Gerard Oms, Ignasi Guasch, Jordi Reverté, Greta Fernández, Eduard Fernández, Àlex Monner, Borja Espinosa, Maria Rodríguez Soto, Frank Feys)

Full review

While At War (Mientras Dure La Guerra)

Review preview for While At War

The deeper into the film we get, and the closer the realities of the war become to Unamuno, the more Amenábar and his co-writer Alejandro Hernández lean into the melodrama.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Drama about author Miguel de Unamuno and his stance towards the fascist coup d’état.

(Country: Spain, Argentina; Year: 2019; Director: Alejandro Amenábar; Writer: Alejandro Amenábar, Alejandro Hernández; Stars: Karra Elejalde, Eduard Fernández, Santi Prego, Luis Bermejo, Tito Valverde, Nathalie Poza, Patricia López Arnaiz, Inma Cuevas, Carlos Serrano-Clark, Luis Zahera, Luis Callejo, Mireia Rey, Ainhoa Santamaría, Itziar Aizpuru, Miquel García Borda)

Full review

Workforce (Mano De Obra)

After his brother is killed on a construction job, his brother and widow fight for justice.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2019; Director: David Zonana; Writer: David Zonana; Stars: Horacio Celestino, Luis Alberti, Horacio Celestino, Luis Alberti)

Zeroville

A socially awkward architecture student inspired by the few films he has seen, rides the bus into Hollywood. He makes an impression on the beautiful actress Soledad. Soon breaking into film as a designer and eventually a film editor, Vikar begins a dreamlike journey into the world of films.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: James Franco; Writer: Paul Felten, Ian Olds, based on the novel by Steve Erickson,; Stars: Joey King, Seth Rogen, Megan Fox, Will Ferrell, James Franco, Danny McBride, Dave Franco, Jacki Weaver, Craig Robinson, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Horatio Sanz, Cynthia Murell, Mia Serafino, Thaila Ayala, Sandra Rosko)